The National Library incorporates major works of art that have become closely associated with the building.

Topic

Information is all around us, every day. Regardless of whether we are looking for the information or having it presented to us unexpectedly, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of data we are exposed to.

Wendy Cooper

Thanks to a gift from the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation, we are digitising performing arts material from our incredible collection.

Topic

The term ‘cartoon’ is from the Italian cartone, meaning paper. In the middle ages, it was used to refer to sketches that had been drawn for larger works, such as canvases, frescos, tapestries or mosaics. From the nineteenth century, a cartoon came to mean an amusing illustration in newspapers, magazines or online.

The Special Collections Reading Room houses art relating to Australian history and culture in the post-colonial era, focusing on modern Australian people and places.

There’s no business like show business, and this exhibition brings Australia’s performing arts history into the limelight.

The National Library has a large collection of sculptures built into and around the building, and beautiful tapestries hanging in our foyer.

For the next 4 weeks, the Library is one of 20 locations hosting contemporary mixed media artworks as part of the Canberra Art Biennial.

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Visual Arts for Year 9 and 10 students. It adopts an inquiry approach to develop students’ skills as art historians.